Public weighs in on pool at Quality of Life meeting

Several community members turned out Thursday night at the Ridgecrest Quality of Life Committee meeting to weigh in on the fate of Sgt. Pinney Pool.

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Several community members turned out Thursday night at the Ridgecrest Quality of Life Committee meeting to weigh in on the fate of Sgt. Pinney Pool.Parks and Recreation Jim Ponek started off by stating that one of his initial suggestions to the city council was to close the pool as part of a means to cut $200,000 from his department’s budget for the 2014 fiscal year as directed by the city council at its Dec. 19 meeting.If the council approved the suggestion during final budget discussions, the pool would remain open until Sept. 1 in order to allow summer programs to run their course.However, any final decision will not be made until the final budget is determined.“If we shut Pinney Pool down as of Sept. 1, that pool is so old it will never open again,” Ponek said.Ponek however offered an overall synopsis for rehabilitating the pool if the council made that direction.Those plans include $1.8 million for the construction of a new 10-lane, 25-yard pool that is 6 feet deep across the entire length and would include cement bleachers and a brick wall to block the wind. The idea behind that phase is geared toward more competitive aspects of the community.Ponek said it would likely require the Sierra Sands Unified School District’s cooperation considering the proposed area the addition would be built on was property owned by the district.Other aspects would include renovating the existing Pinney Pool into a community pool with five water slides, elimination of the kiddy pool for $1 million, building a new entrance and concession building and rehab existing locker rooms for $800,000 and build two new parking lots for $400,000. Ponek suggested that the school district pay for that particular expense.The total price tag is $4 million.Most of Ponek’s plans bank on the availability of Tax Allocation Bonds currently tied up by the California Redevelopment Agency wind down. Most of the funds have already been earmarked once they are unfrozen, but approximately $3.5 million still remain unallocated.Ponek said he had spoken with SSUSD leadership, but had not heard responses either supporting or rejecting the idea.Ponek said that based on discussions with members in the community, the current pool size was inadequate.“It seems the need for the community is a 10-lane pool and one of the biggest needs is an indoor facility,” Ponek said. Ponek immediately stated there would no suggestion for any indoor facility.Vice Mayor Chip Holloway, who chairs the committee with Councilwoman Lori Acton, asked if anything could be paired down for price of renovating the current pool or creating a new addition.“I just don’t want to renovate the pool because it doesn’t meet the needs of the community,” Ponek said. Ridgecrest resident Justin O’Neill asked about what the potential revenue stream on the weekend could be if the idea was followed, suggesting any addition could benefit the city in the long run.Ponek said such a facility could generate more interest in swim meets on the weekends, which could bring in more business for the city’s hotels and businesses.Dora Barnes, the Burroughs High School girls swim coach, provided insight as one of the pools larger users. Sierra Sands pays utilities for Pinney Pool during the high school swim season.“We’re operating two different teams, I have 28 girls on that team and I have to cut that number down because we only have six lanes,” Barnes said. “I could offer more if we had better facilities.”Barnes said that if better facilities were offered in the city as opposed to club teams utilizing the swimming pools at China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, it could generate more revenue.“They are the teams that bring in the swim meets and the people buying food and renting hotels,” Barnes said. “We tried operating swim meets at (Pinney Pool) and it is very difficult because there are only six lanes.”Doug Lueck, director of the Ridgecrest Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, pointed out the idea could be marketed.“If we bring it up to a proper level, we could market it,” Lueck said. “We need a tool to sell but until we have it in place, we can’t sell it.”Many shot down the need for an excessive amount of pools, opting not for a Cadillac-type pool but for a “family mini-van” option.Former Vice Mayor Jerry Taylor pointed out that the school district needed to jump on board for some form of renovation.“Everyone in this room has been paying taxes since the 90s on your property for building new schools, yet they are getting a new school from another funding source so they have a war chest in my mind sitting there available,” Taylor said.He said that a while he understood the enticement of a competition pool, it was not necessarily recreation-friendly because of the depth.“At the same time, you’re disenfranchising a lot of people with that size pool and you’re getting an increased price with two pools for a city that cannot even afford to pay for its current pool,” Taylor said.A recommendation was to set up a committee to explore options, something both Holloway and Acton seemed to agree upon.“We need to stop looking at segments of the community and start looking at the entire community,” Holloway said.